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Ikano

Ikano Group gains insight into its license usage with Snow License Manager

“Snow is really flexible, both commercially and technically. Ikano had no previous experience with SAM solutions. We wanted a platform that could give us more insight into the software we already have, what this software is costing us and what we can do about that. We are extremely impressed with the way in which Snow is approaching this project.”

Ivan Lafond, Incident & Problem Manager Ikano

PROFILE OF THE ORGANIZATION

The Ikano Group owns, develops and manages companies active in the financial services, real estate, insurance and retail sectors. Originally, Ikano was a part of IKEA, until it became an independent group of companies in 1988. The Ikano Group operates in 14 countries across Europe and Asia.

REQUIREMENTS

To fulfil all licensing conditions.

To gain insight into software usage and software costs throughout the Group.

To professionalize software usage within the Group.

ADDED VALUE OF SNOW

Snow License Manager assists the Ikano ICT department in obtaining a greater understanding of the organization’s software usage and the management of the associated costs.

BENEFITS AND RETURN ON INVESTMENT

Prevents additional charges arising from insufficient licensing, and in so doing avoids damage to Ikano’s image.

Considerable time saving when creating reports.

PROFESSIONALIZATION OF SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT

In previous years, Ikano spent a great deal of time and resources on creating reports about assets within the various Group locations. Ivan Lafond, Incident & Problem Manager at Ikano: “We wanted a solution which would benefit each one of our locations and which would enable us to achieve further consolidation. This is why we implemented Snow License Manager.” The Software Assessment Management (SAM) implementation pathway at Ikano involved the roll out of Snow agents, clarification of the Group’s server parks, and individual training for employees in order to ensure optimal use of the software. The training was tailor-made and at the request of Ikano took place at specific locations in Denmark and Asia.

APPLICATIONS IN USE

Snow License Manager was installed centrally within the Ikano Group. All machines located within the Ikano domain were equipped with an agent. This agent scans the machines for the presence of hardware and software and answers the questions: which applications are being opened? By whom? For how long? From which work station? All this data is collected and stored. Subsequently, the Snow recognition database combines all the separate programs and shortcuts, and translates this into licensed software. This results in a list of applications currently present within the Ikano Group, thereby clarifying Ikano’s licensing requirements.

The platform also makes clear which parts of Ikano are obliged to possess specific software licenses, so that licensing costs can be charged to the relevant business areas once the software has been purchased centrally. Software can be installed separately or can form part of a bundle. The latter situation most frequently occurs. Snow License Manager distinguishes between an installation as part of a bundle and a separate installation, since these two situations involve different licensing obligations.

EFFICIENCY IN SOFTWARE INVESTMENT

Snow ensures that its software is configured according to the wishes of Ikano. This generates control information, which enables Ikano to make well considered decisions. For example, the organization might choose to purchase new software or to de-install used software; multiple forms of optimization are possible.

Snow’s software monitors extremely accurately how often a user opens a particular software package and how long he or she uses it. This analysis calculates the average duration of use per opened application per user. The data often reveals that a certain application is opened very frequently for a very short period of time. The question then is whether the user actually needs that application and whether the maintenance support for that software should really be extended. This creates opportunities to save on costs. When employees submit a new software request, it might be worth considering de-installing the relevant package from employees who do not use it, and redeploying the license elsewhere.

FUTURE

Ikano has 5,000 machines connected to the Snow Automation platform, which generates a large amount of accurate information.

The company is now able to make optimal use of all the features of the platform. Software which is installed but not used is deployed

elsewhere. Currently, this reallocation of licenses is still carried out manually, but in the future it will occur via the Snow Automation platform; the functionality to be able to do this is already present.

Ivan Lafond:

“The system is now up and running. We’re now in aposition to start utilizing the software’s functionality more extensively. So far, we’ve primarily been using the reporting functionality of Snow License Manager; the next step is to extend the benefits further. The biggest savings are still to come."